UH Manoa law school programs awarded $18,500 from the Hawaii Justice Foundation

HONOLULU — The William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa announces that it has been awarded grants totaling $18,500 from the Hawaiʻi Justice Foundation for two of its public service programs.

The school‘s "Hawaiʻi Innocence Project" received a $3,500 grant to conduct DNA testing in connection with its pro bono legal services for incarcerated defendants in their appeal. The Hawaiʻi Innocence Project was established in 2005 with the help of California Western School of Law and its staff in San Diego. Law students and professors from UH Mānoa and public and private criminal defense lawyers from Hawaiʻi collaborate with California staffers to investigate and litigate criminal cases where there is compelling evidence of innocence. Professor Virginia Hench leads this program at the law school.

The foundation also awarded a $15,000 grant to the school‘s student public interest group, Advocates for Public Interest Law (APIL) to fund 2007 summer public interest fellowships. APIL is the principal organization at the School of Law devoted to the advancement of public interest law. Its fundamental purpose is to foster the philosophy and practice of public interest law within Hawaiʻi‘s legal community and among the students and graduates of the School of Law.

"For students passionate about community work and social justice, one of the biggest roadblocks is always an economic one—so many of us just can‘t afford to work ʻvolunteer‘ jobs over the summer," said APIL Student President Cathy Malia Lowenberg. "This $15,000 grant for public interest summer work will open doors for many of us and will likely be the spark leading us to pursue public interest law careers after graduation."